The story follows a trio of Japanese youths of Chinese descent who escape their semi-rural upbringing and relocate to Shinjuku, Tokyo, where they befriend a troubled Shanghai prostitute and fall foul of a local crime syndicate. Like many of Miike's works, the film examines the underbelly of respectable Japanese society and the problems of assimilation faced by non-ethnically Japanese people in Japan.

Crete 1897. Greek rebels gained their freedom by fighting in the mountains. An allied fleet of French, English, Italian and Russian warships anchored in the port of Chania in protecting Greek and Turkish inhabitants. Rosa Bonaparte, accompanied by twelve girls off at a deserted beach with all the equipment of a Marseille brothel. Installed in a wing of a huge, ruined former Town Hall, where the officers of the allied fleet meet and entertain in the evenings surrounded by undercover agents, military connectors, and speculators : an East-West mosaic of languages, costumes and intrigue ...

Scudder is a detective with the Sheriff's Department who is forced to shoot a violent suspect during a narcotics raid. The ensuing psychological aftermath of this shooting worsens his drinking problem and this alcoholism causes him to lose his job, as well as his marriage.

Manuel Jordan is a man who is free after serving 23 years for killing a teenager during an attempted robbery. After nearly two decades of staring at his victim's face on a newspaper clipping in his cell, the newly paroled man seeks redemption. Instead, redemption—in the form of a mysterious minister and two needy women— finds him.

Aristos, a ship worker and singer at a popular tavern in the evening, is preparing to marry a poor girl, Maryio. One night at the shop comes the rich Elena, which hides the truth about her financial situation, he falls in love with her and separates him from Maryio. However, after an accident, the real identity of Elena is revealed, as is the fact that she is betrothed. Elena, seeing the misfortune she has scattered around her, pretends that Aristos was just an adventure for her and lets him return to Maryio.

This is the story of the dramatic journey of Victoria, a struggling but talented singer whose search for a "career" leads her to an adventure that will change her life forever. She is introduced to a celebrated songwriter, Joel, who makes her his protege and who later falls madly in love with her. Torn between her booming career and Joel's proposal of love, Victoria turns her back on love and chooses a successful singing career. Joel, whose heart is broken, marries Sandra, the heiress of a recording company. The three characters are caught in a web of pride, deception, and lies.

Married couple Willy and Therese go separate ways. Willy leaves town and returns years later as a famous singer. But Therese is about to marry her best friend Peter. Little does Willy know that he and Therese now have a teenage daughter.

Heinz Strunk, plagued by crater-like skin rashes, lives with his sick mother in Hamburg-Harburg in the 1980s. As a saxophonist, he tours the North German lowlands with the dance combo "Tiffanys". In this bizarre universe of Korn, Klaus & Klaus and Koteletts, bandleader Gurki teaches him how to deliver cheerful, upbeat music. To escape the vicious circle of shooting festivals and village weddings, Heinz wants to start a solo career and become a hit producer...

A shy teenager living on the Isle of Wight dreams of pop stardom. With the help of an unlikely mentor, she enters a singing competition that will test her integrity, talent, and ambition.

Jim Davis is an ex-Army Ranger who finds himself slipping back into his old life of petty crime after a job offer from the LAPD evaporates. His best friend is pressured by his girlfriend Sylvia to find a job, but Jim is more interested in hanging out and making cash from small heists, while trying to get a law enforcement job so he can marry his Mexican girlfriend.

A stranger mentors a young Reno gambler who weds a hooker and befriends a vulgar casino regular.

As the city of Paris and the French people grow in consumer culture, a housewife living in a high-rise apartment with her husband and two children takes to prostitution to help pay the bills.